New York-based additive manufacturing workflow software provider Link3D has closed a $7 million funding round. Led by AI-focused venture capital firm AI Capital, the money has been raised to help grow Link3D’s sales and customer support operations in North America, Europe, and Japan.
“The funding will also aid in our R&D efforts to introduce workflow automation and artificial intelligence within the additive manufacturing production environment,” added Shane Fox, Co-Founder and CEO of Link3D.
“These developments will help organizations around the world unlock the true benefits of industrial manufacturing.”
Link3D’s Additive Manufacturing Execution System
Link3D was founded in 2016. It’s primary product, offered as a service to OEMs and bureaus, is the Additive Manufacturing Execution System, known as Additive MES. Additive MES was created to manage and streamline additive manufacturing in production, and it is being continually expanded by Link3D to meet the growing needs of the industry.
In 2019 alone, Link3D has introduced at least three new functions to the software: firstly, an Additive Material Recommendation System (AMRS), second, True Shape Nesting for MJF and SLS, and third, most recently, a Material Tracking System add-on for end-to-end material traceability. The goal with new integrations is to cater to additive manufacturing for series production. As Fox commented on the integration of True Shape Nesting at RAPID + TCT 2019, “it is our belief that series production will ramp up at an extreme pace. To understand true production cost and achieve optimized production planning, MES toolsets need to become more agile in order to dynamically plan and increase throughput.”
New features to be added with the help of the company’s latest fundraising will be introduced to aid capacity management, dynamic scheduling, and predictive QMS solutions in Additive MES.
The $7 million investment
AI Capital, a firm located in Boulder, Colorado, was the lead investor in Link3D’s latest $7 million fundraising, which saw the participation of several undisclosed angel investors. Commenting on the recent news Neville Teagarden, Managing Partner of AI Capital, said, that Link3D is “a valuable addition” to the firm’s “growth-stage enterprise applied AI investment portfolio.” In addition, Teagardon stated:
“This successful round of funding is a testament to the strong impact Link3D has made thus far, and the confidence it has inspired throughout the industry.”
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Featured image shows the Link3D Digital Factory additive manufacturing ecosystem. Image via Link3D
